() — US and Russian officials will meet in Egypt from November 29 to December 6 to discuss a key nuclear arms control agreement.
The meetings on the New START Treaty — the only existing agreement regulating the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals — come in the wake of Moscow’s nuclear threat to Ukraine and after complications surrounding inspections related to the treaty.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov confirmed on Thursday the dates and venue of the meeting to discuss the new START agreement.
A US State Department spokesperson would not confirm the details, but said they “have scheduled a Bilateral Consultative Commission (BCC) meeting with Russia to discuss the implementation of the New START Treaty.”
“As we have done throughout the life of the treaty, the United States will approach the BCC in a constructive and professional manner without discussing further details publicly,” a spokesperson said. “The US goal for the BCC, as it always has been, is to ensure full implementation of the treaty, including its verification regime.”
“We are planning and preparing for a productive BCC,” they said.
The treaty was last extended in early 2021 for five years. Under the treaty, Washington and Moscow conduct inspections of each other’s weapons sites. However, inspections had been halted since 2020 due to the pandemic and complications arose when the US tried to resume inspections earlier this year.
Biden administration officials see the New START talks taking place later this month as a positive development, though they do not expect the talks to result in an immediate resumption of on-site inspections, an administration official said. .
Administration officials have said that a willingness to discuss the arms control deal, even as Russia wages its war in Ukraine, demonstrates Moscow’s commitment to diplomacy.
“We believe deeply, around the world, in the transformative power and importance of diplomacy and dialogue,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a briefing last week. “When it comes to Russia, of course, we have a clear sight, we are realistic about what the US-Russia dialogue can do, both what it can entail and what it can achieve. We have focused on risk reduction in these talks, but we have been very intentional in making sure that the ability of our two countries to pass messages back and forth and engage in dialogue does not atrophy.”
